Prodipe 25C

Our Verdict

It'll get the job done, but the Prodipe 25C doesn't go about its business with much finesse.

Pros

Plenty of features. Relatively cheap.

Cons

It looks 15 years old. The keys don't feel great.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first: the USB- powered Prodipe 25C looks dated (it appears to have been inspired by the very first generation of M-Audio's Oxygen 8), its case feels slightly brittle and the 25 keys don't play so well. They almost feel 'stepped', with a discernable change halfway down the action.

What this controller does have in its favour, though, is a wide-ranging feature set. The pitch/mod wheels, two data buttons, data entry slider and four notched knobs are all assignable; in fact, the knobs can be switched between two banks of assignments and transmit on different MIDI channels. There's also a Dual mode that lets you send MIDI data from the keyboard and some of the controllers on two channels simultaneously.

Round the back, you've got a 5-pin MIDI Out, a pedal input and the option to power from the mains.

This is worth looking at if you're on a tight budget, but there are smarter, better feeling 25-note controllers out there.

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